Monday, 3 September 2012

Baby's First Week

We've had a very good first week with Eleanor. The second time around is much less stressful than the first, at least it has been for us, and she's been sleeping very well, which is great. The first three days were the hardest. I was really sore all over and felt very sluggish. I had her naturally, which was incredibly painful, but I do think it helped me to have a quicker recovery than the first time around, with Lois when I had an epidural. It took about a week before I felt sort of normal then. Lois has been a good little helper but we've had to watch her closely to make sure she doesn't squeeze lil' miss too hard or let her head wobble like a bobble head.

My mom was here for 2 weeks, which was great. She's already gone home now, but she was so helpful. She played with Lois, washed clothes, made beds, cooked, cleaned, and stayed with Lois while I had the baby. She also enjoyed the neighborhood and squeezed in a teensy bit of relaxation while she was here. And one day Andrew took her to Liberty and Anthropologie, which was heaven for my mom.

I still have a healthy appetite. Actually, I've been super hungry pretty much constantly. My mom brought us some grits from home (Atlanta), and I was craving shrimp and grits earlier this week, so I made some. It was sooo good! Lots of bacon makes anything good though. It was the first meal I cooked myself in a week, so I was happy to do it. Andrew, his sister, and my mom all did plenty of cooking throughout the week as well.

We took the girls for a few walks this week. Here I am yesterday wearing our Ellaroo wrap for the first time. It was very comfortable and she did not fall out.

We also went for tea atLe Chandelier, which is near our new house. Yum. A fig and pistachio tart and an apple tarte tatin.

And I started knitting a baby blanket. Eleanor's room is cream, beige, and grey, so I'm using colors that will go with her room. I started a really nice pinwheel blanket in Paris, but I kept messing it up, so I'm going for something more basic until I can get help with that one. Lil' miss is asleep now, so it's back to knitting for me.

Awww Leigh, Look at little Lois holding Eleanor...so precious! I guess your sister was to have all the boys and you all the girls! You look just beautiful and I'm so glad your mom was able to be there to help you. I love keeping up with your sweet, growing family ~ wishing you all the best sweet girl, hugs and love, Dawn

You look fabulous!! Love your cute haircut! Glad to hear you are feeling well and baby Eleanor is a good sleeper. I live in the South and shrimp and grits are always a favorite around our house! Lois and Eleanor are both just precious! Have a great week.

For the shrimp and grits, I loosely followed something I saw on the food channel. I bought cooked (fresh) shrimp, peeled them and made a bit of stock from the heads and tails. Cooked the grits in cream and shrimp stock, sautéed some garlic with butter and olive oil, added some green onions, lemon juice, smoked paprika, then added the shrimp to the pan just to heat them up and get them in the sauce, added a bit of the stock, then added some chopped cooked bacon at the end (not mixed in the sauce though because it would get mushy, just sprinkled on top at the end). We had sriracha sauce with it, but you could use another hot sauce or jalapenos if you want some heat / spice. I'd also add cheddar cheese too to the grits (but we didn't have any that day). It was very good! You could also look up some recipes to compare. Happy eating :)Leigh